


Cabin Fever

by MyJediLife



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types
Genre: Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Cabin Fic, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Happy Ending, Eventual Romance, Eventual Sex, Eventual Smut, Exes, F/M, Fluff and Smut, Mutual Pining, Redemption, Rey Needs A Hug, Slow Burn, Snowed In
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-21
Updated: 2019-10-21
Packaged: 2020-12-27 11:09:07
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,165
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21117794
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MyJediLife/pseuds/MyJediLife
Summary: Ben Solo and Rey Niima used to be a couple - but Ben's insane job caused them to break up. So, when they find themselves snowed in in a remote cabin in Maine, can they work things out? Is it meant to be?





	Cabin Fever

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Semperfidani](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Semperfidani/gifts).

> For Miss Dani, who is a great person!
> 
> Thank you to the wonderful person who provided my moodboard, and the wonderful person who betaed this for me.

[](https://imgur.com/6BG0GGJ)

Rey looked at the ticket one more time, reading the letter once more for good measure, even though she knew it by heart by now. Leia’s handwriting was elegant, much like the woman herself.

_ _

_ Rey, _

_ I know it’s been two years, but you’re still the daughter I always wanted. Please, I want you to take some time off from work to go to our old cabin in Maine. Use it to decompress, to think about life. It needs some work done, as well, just general maintenance, but nothing you can’t handle. _

_ I remember how you like to fix things, and you were always good at that. _

_ Please, take this gift from your mother – not by birth, of course, but by heart. _

_ Always, _

_ Leia _

Of course, Rey would fly to Maine to spend a week in some cabin in the wilderness, using her many skills to fix the cabin once used by Han and Leia up for her. She and Leia had remained close after she and Ben had broken up.

_ Ben. _

His name still hurt to even think about and to utter it was like opening an old wound. Rey thought time would help her heal, would help her forget him - but it hadn’t. Rey still loved him as fiercely as she had since the day they met.

Sighing, she settled into her seat on the plane, next to a woman with silver hair and kind eyes. Rey gave the woman a smile as she tucked earbuds in her ear, preparing herself to listen to music the entire flight.

Hopefully, her playlist would be kind to her - and not play anything that would remind her of  _ him _ .

%%%

_ Ben, _

_ My darling boy, you work so hard. I am so very proud of you, I want you to know that. _

_ But, as a mother, I worry about you. I know the kind of stress your job places you under, and I know that you drink quite a bit. _

_ I worry because I see a lot of Dad and me in you. Highly driven to succeed at any cost, and the need to drink to forget about your problems. _

_ You can’t drink away heartache, my dear boy. _

_ I’ve already talked to Artemis Snoke, and he has agreed that some time at the old cabin. It needs some work done, and with Dad’s heart issues, he can’t do the work anymore. _

_ I hope you enjoy the solitude, and maybe take some time to decompress and relax. _

_ Love you, son, _

_ Mom _

Ben rolled his eyes as he read the note, folded around an airline ticket. Eyeing the case folders on his dark mahogany desk, Ben sat back in his chair as he ran a hand through his hair and straightened his tie.

He knew he was screwed, and he couldn’t refuse to go now. Especially not if the former Senator had spoken to Snoke. Snoke liked nothing more than to have powerful people in his pocket and letting Senator Organa’s son have a week off made him look like a concerned boss instead of the heartless prick he truly was.

Snoke had cost him so much already. Rey, his sanity, his time, his life…  _ Rey. _

Her name still caused his heart to clench painfully in his chest. The ring he had bought for her two and a half years ago was still tucked into his underwear drawer. Someday maybe he would sell it to some poor soul… or perhaps he would keep it as a reminder of his biggest failure in life.

He had broken her heart - and his - because he was so driven to be successful, and to someday work his way up to partner, or perhaps even have his own firm.

He was sure she was happy by now, probably dating some fellow engineer she worked with. Rey deserved to be happy with someone who could treat her the way she deserved to be treated.

He had fucked things up so bad. Now, all he had to look forward to was work, and the bottle of booze he knew waited at home for him every night. If Han Solo had taught him anything, it was that every ache and pain could be eased with a good glass of scotch.

He was his father’s son, as much as he was also his mother’s.

He could give his parents this much, though, and go to their vacation cabin in Maine to do some much-needed repairs. He would work during the day and drink himself into oblivion at night.

He would drink because he wanted to forget about  _ her _ . He would drink because he didn’t want to remember that he had intended to bring Rey to that same cabin to propose to her.

His failures were going to consume him, and Ben could only drown in the scope of them, letting them take him down further into the murky depths with each passing day.

He didn’t know any other way.

&&&

Rey had rented a car at the airport before setting out to the cabin. It was in a remote, heavily forested area, and the woman renting her the vehicle had warned her to stop in the small village fifteen miles away to get all the supplies she would need. Rey heeded her warning, getting enough food and drinks, as well as any supplies she could think of for repairs that might be needed on an old cabin.

Threading her way up a curving, deserted highway, Rey peered at the GPS in the car, pulling off the road and onto a long, winding driveway. The cabin was perched in a clearing between tall, ancient-looking trees that had probably been there for a hundred years or more.

“Wow,” she said in wonder as she got out of the car, turning in a circle to take in the majestic wonder of the deep forest. The air had a crisp, autumn tang to it, and Rey smiled as she started taking in everything she had purchased.

_ I needed this. Thank you, Leia, _ she thought to herself.

&&&

Ben had always loved flying. Of course, he enjoyed it more when his father was the pilot, or when he was the one in the cockpit. Someday, he was certain he would have to take over the business for the old man - but for now, Solo Aviation was still his Dad’s to run.

He wasn’t sure why his mother had booked him onto a commercial flight, when he could be on one of his Dad’s private ones - but who was he to complain when Leia Organa-Solo wanted something?

Ben settled into his seat, glad that his mother had booked him into first class so he had room to stretch his long legs out. As he drank a couple glasses of scotch, ignoring the way the flight attendant was eyeing him like a piece of meat, Ben leaned his head back against the back of the seat and closed his eyes, popping his earbuds in and turning a random playlist on as he tried to relax.

_ Everything I know is wrong _

_ And every thought I have is gone _

_ And every line I've crossed has led me here _

_ If I could take it all away _

_ Wash my sins and pain today _

_ I wouldn't change a thing if you weren't here _

_ Wouldn't change a thing if you aren't here _

_ I want you to know _

_ I'll bleed if you go _

With a low grumble of annoyance, Ben tear the earbuds out of his ear, looking around wearily before his eyes went to the small window beside his seat. It didn’t matter - no matter where he was or what he was doing, there would always be something that reminded him of Rey. 

He didn’t think that would ever change. His life was empty and meaningless without her in it.

As the plane touched down in Maine, Ben let out a small sigh, knowing he still had roughly two to three hours before he could be in front of the fire in the old cabin, a glass of scotch in hand as he planned out his week.

As he rented a car and purchased the supplies he would need, he already felt a bit better, like the weight of the world was easing off his shoulders just a little.

Sometimes his mother knew just what he needed. He should listen to her advice more often. Maybe he should have listened to her when she told him to call Rey two weeks after they ended things in a screaming match, her last words to him ones he would never, ever forget.

_ I’m nothing to you. I knew it. _

If only she knew how badly he wanted to take every harsh word from that fight back. If only she knew how much he missed her, how much he loved her.

If only she knew that he regretted every moment of that night.

&&&

_ “You missed my birthday, Ben. We had planned the dinner for a month, and you just… didn’t show up. Do you know how embarrassing that was? My own boyfriend didn’t care enough to show up! Then, you promised me we would have this week together up at your parent’s cabin in Maine to make up for it! Remember? A week of nothing but making love in front of the fire and watching the snow fall? You do remember saying that, right? You do remember making the arrangements with your Dad for our flight there? Or am I imagining things?” _

_ Rey was furious, her nostrils flaring and her teeth bared as she yelled at him, one finger reaching out to poke him in his well-muscled chest to accentuate her words. _

_ “I remember, sweetheart, but Snoke just threw this case in my lap, and it’s a huge one. Please, Rey, we can reschedule this trip.” Ben pleaded with her, watching as the tears came to her eyes again. He made her cry so many times - and he  _ hated _ himself for it. _

_ “I’m done being option B, Ben. I’m done being tossed aside because of your job. I have a job, too, you know. But I always put you first, because that’s what you do when you love someone. You put them first. So, what’s it going to be, Ben? Work… or me?” Rey’s eyes flashed in anger as she stood in front of him, her hands on her hips. _

_ Why didn’t she understand that he was trying so hard so that he could ensure their future? He should go get the ring he had stashed in the closet - if he presented it to her, if he got down on his knees in front of her right now and asked her to marry him - she’d see then how much she meant to him, wouldn’t she? _

_ “Well, Ben? Your job, or me?” Rey was clearly not willing to give him a chance to do anything else but answer him, and so he gave her the first answer that came to his mind. _

_ “We’ll reschedule the trip so that I can work on this case. I’m sorry, sweetheart.” Ben saw her heart breaking as she turned and headed into the bedroom, and he wanted to follow her, to pull her into his arms and beg for her forgiveness. Instead, he went to the minibar and poured himself a glass of scotch while he waited for her to calm down. _

_ He was shocked when she came out of their bedroom an hour later, a suitcase in hand. _

_ “I’m done being option B, like I said. I’ll come back for the rest of my things when you’re at work - which shouldn’t be hard to plan since you’re at work all the time. I’ll stay with Finn and Rose until I find a place of my own.” Rey’s tone was icy as she looked at Ben, somehow holding in the tears while she shattered inside. “ _ _ "I knew I was nothing to you." _ _ ” _

_ Ben couldn’t move as she walked to the door. His heart was being torn apart in his chest, and he could barely breathe as she looked back at him, her hand on the door handle. “Goodbye, Ben.” _

_ When she walked out the door, his world ended, and nothing was the same after that. _

&&&

The road to the cabin was the same as it had always been - desolate and twisting.

_ Like my soul _ , Ben thought to himself wryly.

As he pulled the rented car onto the long, curved driveway, he was surprised to see another vehicle already sitting in the driveway and lights on inside the cabin. Perhaps his mother had hired someone to come in and clean before his arrival.

As Ben exited the vehicle, grabbing his bag containing his personal effects, he hopped up the steps of the porch, letting a small smile drift to his lips as he opened the door to the cabin and stepped inside.

A moment later, a gasp left his lips as he saw who was occupying the chair in front of the fireplace.

“Rey?”


End file.
